Mike Lepon
VP candidate for Parallax Party (1992)
Running mate with nominee: Greg Autry Wallace (b. 1957)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Why I was not aware of these guys back in 1991-1992 I cannot say, especially since we seemed to be in the same circle of artists, Dadaists, 'pataphysicians and zinesters at the time. Of course I was up here in the sticks of rural Washington State while they were down in the Bay Area. The Cacophony Society in San Francisco described itself as "a randomly gathered network of free spirits united in the pursuit of experiences beyond the pale of mainstream society." When they nominated Greg Autry Wallace for President and Mike Lepon as VP they might not have known it, but they were continuing the political tradition of the American Beat Consensus Party from 1960.
Wallace had run for President in 1988 as well and filed with the FEC with an "Unknown" party for that one, but I could not identify a running-mate in that election.
The Society's organ, Rough Draft, carried the following item in issue #59 (Aug. 1991):
The Parallax Party will kick off the 1992 election campaign with a gala event at it's San Francisco headquarters. There will be flags and balloons a'plenty as Greg Autry Wallace throws his stovepipe hat into the ring and becomes the Parallax Party standard bearer. He will recount his youth, growing up in a Lincoln Log cabin, introduce his running mate, Mike Lepon, and unveil his plans to put a bag on the moon, build a city on the sun, and raise John Frankenstein Kennedy from the dead. As Kurt Cline has said:'A vote for Greg Wallace is a vote for pumpkin pie on every table, not in every brainpan. A vote for Greg Wallace is a vote for super-luminous beings of incredible magnitude.'
Lepon made comments at the event:
I think the ideal leader would be like one of Plato's philosophers. He would be the wisest person, not a bunch of bureaucrats like we have today ... So that's why we need an educational system that will teach about useful things like yogurt, not one of the wastes things. And that's why the Parallax Party is the future of America. And we call it that, because if you change your perspective, you'll see things in a different way ... And that's what we need. A new look for the American political system.
Other issues in the Parallax Party platform were reported to be:
--Abolish money
--Dismantle the military-industrial complex
--Appoint a Drug Czar to see that all drugs are distributed in a fair manner
--Replace all existing warheads with acid heads
--Replace all stockpiles of nerve gas with laughing gas
--French toast will fall from the sky
--Dismantle the CIA
--Set up a committee to see what sort of wine goes best with lamb
--Include Pee Wee Herman's likeness on Mt. Rushmore
It appears the Parallax Party was actually more active in 1991 than election year 1992. There were two possible Constitutional problems in the event the Wallace/Lepon ticket had won-- First, they were both residents of the same state. Second, since Wallace was under the age of 35 he could not serve if elected. Lepon's age is not known but the odds are good he was also under 35.
Election history: none
Other occupations: ?
Notes:
Also called Mike LePon.
